Zend Framework 1.8 Web Application Development

Oct 14th, 2009

Hi guys , I got a chance to review the book “Zend Framework 1.8 Web Application Development” by Keith Pope published by Packt. I was glad to hear that they have choosen me as one of the reviewer . Let me tell you something how I came to review the book and my experience in Zendframework . After completing my Btech from Calicut University Institute of Engineering and Technology ( CUIET ) joined ISPG technologies Cochin as PHP developer from November 2007, and was interested to learn one of the frameworks like symfony , cake , codeignitter , zf , yii . It was my client Christopher Van Ittersum of Design customs who pushed me to learn ZF . I started learning ZF after more than 1.5 years of experience developing web applications with PHP. Developed a simple blog using ZF and posted it here which was later published in devzone ( http://devzone.zend.com/article/9755-A-simple-blog-with-Zend-Framework-1.9 ) pushes me to write a review for “Zend Framework 1.8 Web Application Development” by Keith Pope . Introduction/summary:Zend “The PHP company” who is behind Zend framework ( ZF ) is one of the fastest growing opensource PHP frameworks . This book is for those who know PHP and want to learn ZF or use the components . ( If you are a newbie to MVC then its like jumping to sea without a life jacket , so this book is a jacket ) . When I started reading the book I started loving it and I hope you too will defnitely love reading it. What’s the book about? The “Zend Framework 1.8 Web Application Development” book is really useful for those who want to learn Zend framework or who wants to use the ZF library in their projects . You must have some knowledge about PHP and OOP. It teaches you the mostly used zendframework components and thus improving your knowledge and shortening the learning curve. Does it achieve its promises? I was new to ZF and MVC, so I hope every like me have the same views . Many people says ZF has great docs and is easy to learn . According to me, the curve is steep , but once you learned it , you will be comfortable in it . So to climb up you need a ladder . This book is a ladder for you to learn ZF which will shorten your learning cure . It starts with a small “Hello world” application which uses the zf commands like the one used by quickstart and explains each and every details. When the book was written ( according to the author) , the command zf create module was not available and he has created modules folder manually and so the cart doesn’t use the zf commands. But the structure is same. The module is the one everyone new to ZF will try to learn like the database connection . This book uses some modules , so it will help you to learn about module structure . The other toughest part every person searching will the Zend_Acl and Zend_Auth which is also covered . You can learn some about unit testing with phpunit and debugging with xdebug . The book covers how to install and configure these . You will learn some of the techniques to beautify a form using the Zend_Form , also how to make pretty urls. First I thought of writing a small comparison, after downloading the source code from Manning ( “Zend framework in Action” by Rob Allen of http://akrabat.com ) and Packt , but later thought of leaving it ( cannot compare 1.6 with 1.8 ). If you are interested you can try it out . According to me the Zend Framework 1.8 Web Application Development will really help you reducing the learning curve as its having a good example as shopping cart . Conclusion : The book “Zend Framework 1.8 Web Application Development” will really help you learning ZF in a better way. Every book , has its own limitations as when the book is ready to release many new features will be introduced and some features will be deprecated. Also writing a blog post itself is tedious job , so what about writing a book ? He has tried to help you learn ZF very well without much mistakes . So the book is not the last step to learn ZF, but will help you learn zend framework quickly. The one thing I have noticed working with the example was you need to configure virtual host else the style sheets will not be taken . ie http://localhost/ and have some trouble with http://localhost/store/public/ . Or you may need to edit the layout script and give the exact path . If you are not conviced, then may want to get a sample chapter of the book The book “Zend Framework 1.8 Web Application Development” is available in e-book and hardcopy . Consider buying a hardcopy than an e-book , for its hard to sit infront of the system for a long time in the same position ( after all its upto you ). I would like to express my sincere thanks to each and every one behind Zend Framework, and to all behind Packt publishers for giving me a chance to write a review for the book “Zend Framework 1.8 Web Application Development” . Would like to Thank each and every one ( bloggers ) who has helped me directly or indirectly . Updated ( Not about the book ): If you have any doubts regarding how zend framework will help you, then its not late you can also join the Zend conference( http://www.zendcon.com/ or follow in twitter http://twitter.com/zendcon ) and learn more about the ZF and brush up your PHP skills . Ah I forget the name of the site where I was in a few days back ( You can see the link from http://weierophinney.net aaah here it comes for you http://caseysoftware.com/blog/so-its-your-first-conference ) . It really tells you about the conference and it will really help you, if you are new to the Zend conference . You can see lots of speakers who have contibuted much to the opensource. Also the post makes you remember , that you may be a fan of some one and don’t get over excited . Its not just a talk about ZF, but the great frameworks ( like symfony , cake etc , phpunit testing ) and future of PHP . So if you have some $$ to spend , go and be there . Hope I am not so late to point about this . Anyway enjoy the sessions and I will read from your blogs how it went . Looking forward to see nice posts .